In a fight that frequently dipped into a tactical stalemate, Freire’s (18-8 MMA, 11-7 BMMA) strong late-fight performance may have swayed judges against Henderson (24-8 MMA, 1-3 BMMA) with scores of 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28.

The lightweight headliner aired on Spike as the featured bout Bellator 183, which took place Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Prelims streamed on MMAjunkie.

After getting the decision, Freire made his case for another shot at Bellator gold by calling out current champ Brent Primus.

“I eat former champions for breakfast,” he said. “Brett Primus, you have my gold. You have my belt. You run two times. Two times, I come for you.”

By dispatching Henderson, Freire certainly narrowed the field of contenders. But his win fell short of the emphatic statement that often warrants a big opportunity. The matchup of styles didn’t help much, either.

Freire had a tough time getting inside to land punches on the southpaw Henderson, who proved an elusive target as he sniped to the body with kicks. Takedown attempts from Henderson in the second and third rounds ate up a sizable chunk of time as Freire wrestled to stay upright.

Only in the final frame did Freire seem to find his range, clipping Henderson with a left hook that briefly made the ex-champ take a knee. Henderson repaid the favor, and then took a right straight. A leaping knee rebuffed his forward advance.

It was a slim margin, but then again, most Henderson fights are decided on those. Freire has now won two straight after a knockout of former UFC standout and Strikeforce champ Josh Thomson, while Henderson drops to 1-3 in the Bellator cage.